"Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a broader role in” in Iraq, Bush

WASHINGTON, September 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. President George W. Bush urged the United Nations to overcome bitter “past differences” over the U.S.-led invasion and appealed for troops and deployment in a speech dismissed by Democrats as failing to chart a specific course to stability in the war-ravaged country.

"Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation," Bush said in a rare prime-time speech late Sunday, September 7.

"I recognize that not all our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power, yet we cannot let past differences interfere with present duties," he said in a primetime speech given from the White House's Cabinet Room.

The move represents a turnaround in policy compared to the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which Washington launched without a U.N. mandate and amid staunch opposition from the international community, including U.N. Security Council members, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Bush somberly warned the U.S. public that rebuilding Iraq "will take time, and require sacrifice".

He added that he would ask Congress for 87 billion dollars for policing and rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year.

The U.S. leader said 66 billion dollar of his new funding request would go towards military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year. The rest would go towards reconstruction.

The administration gave no details on how it would finance the new expenditures, which could push the record U.S. budget deficit well beyond 500 billion dollars.

Washington, battered by a rising price tag and a post-war death toll that has surpassed that of the original invasion, now seeks a new U.N. resolution creating a multinational force for Iraq.

Central Front of Terrorism

Bush also said Iraq is now the central front of the global war on terrorism.

"We will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom, and to make our own nation more secure," he said in the 18-minute speech.

Bush’s portrayal of Iraq stood in stark contrast to the triumphal tone of his last speech to the nation, on May 1, when he declared the war "one victory" in the struggle against terrorism, beneath a banner that read "Mission Accomplished."

On Sunday, he seemed to dash hopes of a quick return of U.S. troops and rebuff calls for sending more American soldiers to Iraq, saying that "the current number of American troops, nearly 130,000, is appropriate to their mission."

But he also said that commanders there sought a third multinational division, to join two others led by the British and the Poles.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told NBC television the new U.N. resolution might result in the deployment of just 10,000-15,000 more soldiers from U.S. allies.

Powell will meet representatives of other nations this month to discuss contributions to the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, followed by a similar conference on Iraq in October, Bush said.

"Europe, Japan, and states in the Middle East will all benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries and they should contribute to that success," he said.

Bush’s appeal came after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the United States would not necessarily need to relinquish military authority in Iraq to win a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would usher in more international troops.

"It has become obvious that the challenge is much larger than anticipated and that one nation cannot tackle it alone. And the greater the participation in the alliance, the more manageable it gets," Annan told Time magazine.

Asked if winning U.S. support would require Washington to cede control over military operations, Annan said: "Not necessarily, because we've had other multinational forces which the U.S. commanded."

Bush made no mention of the inability of U.S. troops to locate the unconventional weapons he said Baghdad possessed, or their failure to locate Saddam Hussein or Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Misleading

Although initial response to Bush’s speech suggested the request was likely to garner congressional support, many top diplomats said it was not enough to soothe fears over the volatile situation facing the U.S. forces in Iraq.

"Lets be clear -- a 15-minute speech does not make up for 15 months of misleading the American people on why we should go to war against Iraq or 15 weeks of mismanaging the reconstruction effort since we have been there," said Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean.

The former Vermont governor expressed doubt the president's televised address to the nation was going to convince the rest of the world that the United States wanted them to be part of Iraq's reconstruction.

"The president ... should immediately direct his secretary of state to get on a plane to drum up the troops and the money - and make the deals that are necessary to get our allies and friends to join us in the effort to make Iraq a better place," Dean said in a statement.

Senator John Kerry, who is also running for Democratic presidential nomination, said Bush’s address had left many questions unanswered.

"Giving a speech on national television does not reassure Americans about what’s happening in Iraq - to be straight with the American people about Iraq takes more than a speech, it takes real answers to tough questions," said the Massachusetts lawmaker.

He listed 10 issues that he believes had not been addressed by the White House in its Iraq endeavor.

They include how to get others to share the financial burden in Iraq, how to convince the Iraqis that Americans are their friends and not occupiers, and how to transfer power to an Iraqi government.

Democratic ambivalence on the issue mirrored a string of recent opinion polls indicating the public at large was of two minds about U.S. involvement in the country.

Also Democratic presidential contender, Senator Bob Graham, complained that the request for 87 billion dollars was "breathtaking at a time when the Republican tax cuts have pushed the nation toward record deficits."

Two Soldiers Wounded

In the meanwhile, at least two U.S. soldiers were wounded Monday in a bomb attack on their vehicles near a bridge in central Baghdad, U.S. military officials and witnesses said Monday.

The attack ended an unusually quiet spell for U.S.-led forces who had not reported any dead or wounded since Friday, September 5.

Sergeant Amy Abbott, a military spokeswoman, said troops traveling in two Humvees were hit by an "improvised explosive device" near the Al-Jumhuriya Bridge.

"Two Humvees were damaged, one overturned and caught fire," she told AFP, adding that two soldiers were wounded and their condition unknown.

Witnesses reported three soldiers injured in the attack, which they said occurred shortly before 7:30 am (0330 GMT) as the vehicles were entering the tunnel under the bridge.

The area was cordoned-off with Bradley fighting vehicles and armored Humvees.

Sirkis Sirkissian, who lives nearby, said he watched as three wounded soldiers were ferried from the tunnel's entrance to a hospital in the back of a pick-up truck.

He added that he believed a hand grenade was dropped from an overpass at the tunnel's entrance as the soldier's vehicle was entering.

Also Monday, a U.S. military convoy came under a missile attack in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, with no casualties reported, Al-Jazeera reported.